Congestion could cost UK drivers £62bn by 2025

Posted on

Dec 4, 2016

According to forecasts from INRIX, congestion in the UK's road hotspots could cost motorists £61.8 billion by the year 2025.
Using the INRIX Roadway Analytics tool, more than 200,000 traffic jams were analysed in order to identify and rank 45,662 traffic hotspots across Europe. The study took in 123 major cities across the continent.
The total costs of congestion was calculated as part of the analysis in order to approximate the prices European drivers will pay over the next 10 years as a result of gridlock.
Graham Cookson, the chief economist for INRIX, said: "Only by identifying traffic hotspots and analysing their root causes can we effectively combat congestion.
'Some of the most effective traffic improvement measures have benefited from this approach, like Transport for London's traffic signal optimisation work, which is reducing delays by 13% and could save drivers £65 million a year.
"The Government has taken a similar approach with its Autumn Statement pledge to spend £220m on reducing gridlock at key 'pinch points' on the UK's strategic road network.î
20,375 UK traffic hotspots were analysed in 21 cities, with ranking determined by 'impact factor'. This figure was taken by multiplying the average duration of a traffic jam with its average length and the number of times such a jam occurred across September of this year.
The £61.8bn figure is the estimated cost that will be incured should there be no reduction in congestion levels by 2025.
Unsurprisingly, London saw the highest levels of traffic congestion, and had more traffic hotspots (12,776) than anywhere else. The impact of hotspots in the capital was also noted as being 28 times higher than in the other four biggest European cities studied: Rome, Paris, Hamburg and Madrid.
As a result of this, London motorists will pay the highest cost should there be no reduction in future congestion levels. It's estimated that the total cost for drivers in the capital could reach £42bn over the next decade.
The potential costs in the capital as a whole would be over 15 times higher than Edinburgh, the second highest UK city studied. Other cities in the analysis included Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Leeds, Cardiff, Bradford and Belfast.